How To Get Ripped

As easy as the models and athletes in our magazine make being lean and ripped look, we’ve got to be honest, it couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s hard, it takes time, and it demands an unwavering degree of discipline. In our on-going efforts to assist you in sculpting the body you’ve always wanted, we’ve laid out the gold rules to getting ripped.

Rule #1 - Have a carbohydrate strategy.

We’ve heard it all before, “carbs are the enemy.” Well, not really. Completely slashing your carbohydrate intake will certainly help with dropping the pounds (and fast) but you’ll also be left feeling cranky, tired and lethargic. “Carbs are essential for life as our brain and CNS require them continuously to work properly. Restricting carbs completely will allow for any muscle mass to be metabilized to provide us with energy,” says personal trainer, registered dietician and founder of TRymFitness, Tim McComsey. It all comes down to using them correctly, not cutting them completely. “To get lean, a balance of the right amount of carbs first thing in the morning and after workout is ideal,” he says.

Rule #2 - Eat more fat.

Yeah, we said it. Eat more fat. “Fat doesn’t make you fat, too much food makes you fat,” says McComsey. Consuming more fat in your diet will actually help curb cravings after you’ve reduced your carb intake. “Fats help curb hunger because it takes the body longer to break down, use or store,” he says. Hormones also play a role, especially when it comes to muscle-supporting testosterone. McComsey adds, "fats are needed to create and balance out hormones in our body to function normally."

Rule #3 - Swap fruit out for veggies.

Fruit is great, it’s full of nutrients and antioxidants to help protect the body, but the downside is that they’re also full of sugars (carbs). How do you not lose out on all the benefits? Swap in veggies for fruit. This strategy allows you to keep the nutrients and antioxidants, but your sugar/carb and total calorie intake will be reduced. One apple has 125 calories and 25 grams of carbs. One large red pepper has 40 calories and 5 grams of carbs. You do the math.

Rule #4 - Ditch cardio for weights and circuits.

Want to get lean, hit the cardio machine. Wrong. “You will not make more muscle this route,” says McComsey. When you do cardio you're burning calories, but you're missing the muscle growth stimulation from weight training. "The more muscle that you have, the more calories and fat you'll be burning," he says. McComsey recommends hitting the weight room 3-4 days per week with one of the days being a circuit style with a variety of exercises. If you need to do cardio, try one day of 20-minutes of fast-slow intervals.

Rule #5 - Lay off the sauce.

Party boy, are we? If you’re serious about losing weight and getting lean you’d better take the effects of alcohol on the body seriously. "Alcohol causes fat to be stored instead of being used for energy. Essentially, your body will put a hold on the digestion of any food until the liver can excrete the alcohol," he says. Alcohol also hurts you in two other areas. "It is a diuretic which dehydrates you and reduces energy levels. It also can decrease testosterone in our bodies which is critical for creating muscle," he adds. Next time you're planning a guys-night, stick to one or two light beers or a hard liquor with a diet soda mixer.

They are essential for a "healthy life" and certainly for any bodybuilder looking to compete. You stay in Keto, and you'll never be a winning bodybuilder - that's for sure.

Clearly, you need to do more research in understanding what carbs do & don't do. It's large amounts of insulin that you "don't need". Hence, why people tend to rid themselves of carbs thinking that they'll be healthier. Not exactly. It isn't cut and dry. The body prefers carbs over any other fuel source, which is why insulin shuts down fat metabolism and triggers carbohydrate metabolism for energy when you eat carbs. The trick is the ratio of carbs to protein as well as what type of carbs you tend to eat. These two things drastically change the outcome of body composition.

Carbs are needed to stay hydrated, to provide the proper form of glucose for intense training, and are needed for a variety of bodily functions. The point you have to take home is this: if you aren't eating any carbs, your body is going to use muscle mass (aminos) as it's energy source for intense training. I'm not talking about walking, sleeping, sitting, standing, etc -- those acitvities are fed by fats. Yet the weight training activities need an anaerobic fuel source, something fat cannot help with. In that regard, the body will either use glucose from carbohydrates or amino acids. One preserves muscle mass while the other is catabolic to muscle mass.

In the context of bodybuilding, carbs are essential. In being "skinny", they are not. Then again, skinny people aren't ripped. Muscular people with big, round muscle bellies are "ripped". To have full muscles and top athletic endurance and performance, you need plenty of carbs.

Nope. You will die if you don't eat fat. You will die if you don't eat protein. You WON"T die if you consume zero carbs. Sure you might not feel well and possibly be lethargic, but you won't die. Isn't that the very definition of what makes something "essential for life" or not?

They are essential for a "healthy life" and certainly for any bodybuilder looking to compete. You stay in Keto, and you'll never be a winning bodybuilder - that's for sure.

Clearly, you need to do more research in understanding what carbs do & don't do. It's large amounts of insulin that you "don't need". Hence, why people tend to rid themselves of carbs thinking that they'll be healthier. Not exactly. It isn't cut and dry. The body prefers carbs over any other fuel source, which is why insulin shuts down fat metabolism and triggers carbohydrate metabolism for energy when you eat carbs. The trick is the ratio of carbs to protein as well as what type of carbs you tend to eat. These two things drastically change the outcome of body composition.

Carbs are needed to stay hydrated, to provide the proper form of glucose for intense training, and are needed for a variety of bodily functions. The point you have to take home is this: if you aren't eating any carbs, your body is going to use muscle mass (aminos) as it's energy source for intense training. I'm not talking about walking, sleeping, sitting, standing, etc -- those acitvities are fed by fats. Yet the weight training activities need an anaerobic fuel source, something fat cannot help with. In that regard, the body will either use glucose from carbohydrates or amino acids. One preserves muscle mass while the other is catabolic to muscle mass.

In the context of bodybuilding, carbs are essential. In being "skinny", they are not. Then again, skinny people aren't ripped. Muscular people with big, round muscle bellies are "ripped". To have full muscles and top athletic endurance and performance, you need plenty of carbs.

I completely agree with everything you said and never said anything against that. By the very definition of "essential for life" (note they never once said "healthy life"), then you would die if you never ate a single carbohydrate. Which is flat out false. That's all I am commenting on. I would have kept quiet if the sentence had said "carbs are essential for bodybuilding", but they didn't.

Nope. You will die if you don't eat fat. You will die if you don't eat protein. You WON"T die if you consume zero carbs. Sure you might not feel well and possibly be lethargic, but you won't die. Isn't that the very definition of what makes something "essential for life" or not?

So true. Any biologist and chemist can tell you that.

There are cultures in the world that eat upwards of 70% of their calories from fat and they are extremely healthy. One such culture in the south pacific when exposed to a western diet went from nearly no disease and obesity to a near 3 out of 4 sick and or obese in less than 20 years.

When taken off the western diet in less than 10 they returned to their previous health levels as a society.

I completely agree with everything you said and never said anything against that. By the very definition of "essential for life" (note they never once said "healthy life"), then you would die if you never ate a single carbohydrate. Which is flat out false. That's all I am commenting on. I would have kept quiet if the sentence had said "carbs are essential for bodybuilding", but they didn't.

There are cultures in the world that eat upwards of 70% of their calories from fat and they are extremely healthy. One such culture in the south pacific when exposed to a western diet went from nearly no disease and obesity to a near 3 out of 4 sick and or obese in less than 20 years.

When taken off the western diet in less than 10 they returned to their previous health levels as a society.

The main carbs they were introduced to were sugar and flour.

haha, I can imagine why then.

We really should come up with different names for these things. I hate how potatoes, yams, beans, peas, various veggies & whole grains get stuck in the same category as sugar and flour. We call all of them "carbs". While this is true, it has a certain level of injustice towards the healthier carb options and literally has steered our entire culture towards keto and low carb diets, when in reality if the carbs chosen were smarter choices, a low carb diet wouldn't be necessary at all to stay lean and healthy. And as far as portions go, I'm almost certain one can live and remain sustainably healthy under the "everything in moderation" rule of thumb.

The brain needs glucose to function. End of story . It can't run on ketones.

Science lesson. Dietary sugar and blood sugar are not the same. Your brain requires blood sugar which can be derived from dietary protein, dietary sugar, dietary fat and from adipose tissue.

That is another reason that dietary sugar, commonly called carbs, are not essential. Can they have a benefit, sure. In some cases. But they are not essential.

I have heard the argument before about vitamins and minerals via fruits and vegetables as being essential. That theory is proven wrong by cultures that live above the frost line and do not eat those goods and yet are still more healthy as a society than those on the western high carb diet.

Now I am not saying fruits and vegetables are bad, just not essential. The vitamins and minerals they do provide have great value especially when you eat so many processed carbs that are so deficient in any nutrients.

Nope. You will die if you don't eat fat. You will die if you don't eat protein. You WON"T die if you consume zero carbs. Sure you might not feel well and possibly be lethargic, but you won't die. Isn't that the very definition of what makes something "essential for life" or not?

Science lesson. Dietary sugar and blood sugar are not the same. Your brain requires blood sugar which can be derived from dietary protein, dietary sugar, dietary fat and from adipose tissue.

That is another reason that dietary sugar, commonly called carbs, are not essential. Can they have a benefit, sure. In some cases. But they are not essential.

I have heard the argument before about vitamins and minerals via fruits and vegetables as being essential. That theory is proven wrong by cultures that live above the frost line and do not eat those goods and yet are still more healthy as a society than those on the western high carb diet.

Now I am not saying fruits and vegetables are bad, just not essential. The vitamins and minerals they do provide have great value especially when you eat so many processed carbs that are so deficient in any nutrients.

ahhh thanks for clearing that up for me man. Dietary sugar is just sugar in foods, basically put. And blood sugar can be derived from other macro nutrients. Thanks for hte info

It's hard to compare none carbohydrate diets to western carb-heavy diets when we as westerners tend to eat too much simple sugars and not enough vitamin & fiber loaded complex carbs PLUS we're on average considerably less active people. The two combined equates to terrible health, but doesn't do justice in explaining whether or not carbs in general are healthy.

Another thing to note - carbs are not needed for glucose energy. Likewise, fats are overrated too if you are eating 60-80% of your diet in carbs alone. Hence, when having a high fat diet, have a low carb diet. When having a low fat diet, have a high carb diet.

Moving on from there, we need to also realize that in the realm of athletic events and activities, high carb/low fat diets net a greater performance in the gym and on the field than the high fat/low carb diet does. So again, in the realm of bodybuilding, one is superior to the other in terms of performance. This is why I prefer high carbs to high fats. As you increase in carb consumption, your body shifts into carb-burning mode. Therefore, fats become less relevant for energy and are also ineffective at anaerobic exercise anyways.

Do NOT for a second think that you are deriving your glucose from from metabolism as you burn through a heavy set of reps on the bench! You are burning up carb-derived glucose, then creatine, then amino acids! Fat must have oxygen in order to be transported into the muscle cell!